Contract rebel Samir Nasri has revealed that ‘titles’ are more important to him than ‘money’, after rejecting a £90,000-a-week contract extension at Arsenal.

Nasri, who has twelve months left on his existing contract, is yet to agree to sign a new deal after talks broke down between the 24-year-old’s representatives and Gunners’ officials.

The player himself is due to return to London Colney next week for pre-season training and head for final showdown talks with manager Arsene Wenger, when he is expected to formally request to leave the club.

“Money has never been my motivation. I have always taken my decisions from a football point of view,” Nasri told News of the World.

“I don’t want to sign for a club where I wouldn’t be playing the football that I like, where I wouldn’t feel happy, just for the sake of money. We already earn huge wages. The priority is to make a big career and to win titles. This is more important than everything else. I know the value and the meaning of money.

“With no titles under your belt, you can’t be in the list for the Ballon D’Or. I came to England to get trophies because I haven’t won anything in my career, apart from an Under-17 European Championship in 2004.

“We all need to get out of our comfort zone to grow up and test ourselves.

Gaël Clichy looks certain to join Manchester City tomorrow, in a move that could see the left-back become the first of several star players to leave Arsenal this summer. The Ivory Coast striker Gervinho will, however, arrive on the same day, from Lille.


Clichy's representatives were busy completing the formalities of a £7 million deal over the weekend, with the Frenchman agreeing a four-year deal at City after refusing to sign a new contract at the Emirates Stadium. His move to one of Arsenal's biggest Premier League rivals represents a damaging development for the club and things could be about to get a lot worse, as several other players look to be on their way. Gervinho's £11m arrival is expected to be confirmed tomorrow. Gervinho was not a regular starter for Lille in Ligue 1 last season, but it was his performances in last year's World Cup that attracted Arsène Wengerto the 24-year-old, who can also operate on the wing.

City are also targeting the mid-fielder Samir Nasri, who like Clichy is in the final year of his contract. He rejected a new five-year deal, worth £90,000-a-week, towards the end of last season. The Arsenal manager will not want to see a player for whom he paid £15.8m three years ago leave for nothing in 2012, so it seems likely that he will sanction a deal. Manchester United have also been linked with Nasri and Chelsea, under their new manager, Andre Villas-Boas, joined the race to sign the 24-year-old France midfielder on Friday.

Arsenal are also facing a battle to keep hold of the Russian forward Andrey Arshavin, who is expected to be the subject of a £13.5m bid from Galatasaray, while the midfielder Cesc Fabregas is likely to be heading back to Barcelona after a relentless two-year pursuit by the European champions.

The midfielder Denilson, meanwhile, told Brazilian media last week that he was considering offers from Villarreal and Sao Paulo. With Robin van Persie and Theo Walcott having just two years left on their contracts, it is a worrying time for Arsenal supporters.

Wenger has acquired one player from the Camp Nou, the 16-year-old right-back Hector Bellerin, and is also expected to make a £10m move for the 17-year-old Southampton winger Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain. But neither man is likely to appease fans,as they will not be thrust in to the first team.

Despite this, Bellerin told Spanish television: "When there is a team that guarantees you can play in the first team and above all in the Premier League, then it is difficult to say no."

Thats what Spanish media outfit AS are claiming, that Arsenal want Benzema to replace van Persie who could be leaving within the next couple of weeks.

The van Persie leaving rumours have surfaced only recently, seems everyone and their aunt is up for sale at The Emirates these days, at least the article in AS does have us buying a player at last.

Of course, this is just another rumour and so no need for anyone to start panicking or for the usual suspects to start screaming leave Wenger alone, Wenger has said to be patient, that is all we can do at this point AND take the gossip with a pinch of salt.

In the event that Fabrgeas leaves it was thought that van Persie would take on the captaincy role, that now could be a doubt if any of these rumours turn out to be true and all in all, even with Benzema linked to us, this is not the best news to greet Arsenal fans on a Sunday morning

Arsene Wenger is always roundly criticized by Arsenal fans for his lack of activity in the transfer market, but he has asked the fans to be patient (as he does every year!), and told them it is not always intelligent to want what you don’t have.

Maybe he’s been reading Just Arsenal and seeing the wishlists of our readers! But he does say he is trying to negotiate with players even if it is all done in secret.

“I’m very happy at Arsenal,” said Wenger. “One sign of intelligence in life is to not always to want what you don’t have. Appreciate what you have.”

“Everyone is on standby at the moment, keeping their cards close to their chests, and waiting for someone to make the first move. Everyone wants to make that great signing and I’m focused on those objectives and am very busy on the telephone.”

He was also asked if he thought that one day he could go back and help his old club Strasbourg, who are in trouble right now, and has also been linked with the managers job at newly-rich PSG, but he made it clear that no matter what happens, he will remain at Arsenal for the next three years.

“I have contacts with the shareholders at Paris because I work with them outside of football. But I have always respected my contracts in content and length, and here I have three years left and I firmly intend to see them out.”

But he again emphasised that he disagreed with the big spenders in the transfer market, and said again that he will always try to be sensible in his transfer dealings.

“We work like everyone should, with a balance between revenue and expenditure,” he continued. “When this is not the case, it puts a club in danger. We try to combine three factors: a style of play, sensible management and human qualities.

“So it’s hard to understand why we are criticised. Because we did not win? Yes, that’s true, there were stronger teams than us. But we have not been out of the top four for 15 years and, for me, the true value of a team is consistency.’

“We came close to winning the title but we may have been too greedy because we tried to win everything and, in the end, we were a bit short physically. We played 27 games over three months around the new year and paid the price in the final sprint. We also had players like Fabregas and Robin van Persie out injured for a long time.

“I enjoy conditions every coach dreams of. I’ll be eternally grateful to my club because I work with a philosophy and freedom that I like.”

He doesn’t give much away there about his spending plans, but he definitely didn’t say he would be changing his philosophy! It looks like time for all Arsenal fans to cross their fingers…..tightly!

Полузащитник «Марселя» Матье Вальбуэна попал в сферу интересов лондонского «Арсенала». Приобретение Вальбуэна станет для «канониров» приоритетной задачей на трансферном рынке в том случае, если клубу не удастся договориться о продлении контракта с полузащитником Самиром Насри.

Как сообщает L`Equipe, главный тренер «Марселя» Дидье Дешам не против продажи футболиста. Возможный переход француза в «Арсенал» оценивается в 15 миллионов евро.

В минувшем сезоне Вальбуэна вышел на поле в 32 матчах чемпионата Франции и отметился в них четырьмя забитыми мячами. Полную статистику француза вы можете посмотреть здесь.